words do not catch my attention
as perhaps they once did.
my energy is captured
by what is in between those words
and underneath
what’s left unsaid
and overemphasized
the way in which
the words are spoken
the life, death
that breathes meaning into them.
this listening yields an entirely different
narrative–
a story that can weigh and lift
and invite uncertainty
as this mother tongue speaks a language
that few care to take the time and care
to interpret
though ripe with meaning and wisdom
when i can quiet my self,
listening.